Elderly woman kept alive by dog sleeping on chest after getting lost during hike in Maine
An elderly woman may have been kept alive by her dog sleeping on her chest after she and her husband got lost while walking outside their Maine home.
Pamela Helmstadter, 72, was rescued Thursday after spending four nights in the woods in Washington County, Maine. WMTW reports.
Her dog, a black Lab named Lucy, was by her side when game wardens located her that afternoon. according to the Portland Press Herald.
“When the K9 team found her, her dog was very protective of her and even lay on her chest,” said Sgt. Josh Beal, of the Maine Warden Service.
“It sounds like the dog would do that at night too, to keep her warm.”
Pamela Helmstadter, 72, was rescued Thursday after spending four nights in the woods in Washington County, Maine
She was severely hypothermic when she was found, with a body temperature of just 90.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
Authorities say Helmstadter’s ordeal began when she and her husband, 82-year-old John Helmstadter, went to walk their two dogs on the network of trails behind their home in Alexander and got lost. according to WMTW.
At that moment John fell and was unable to get up.
Because neither John nor Pamela had their cell phones with them at the time, Pamela went to get help on foot, but became disoriented and could not find her way home.
“She was more physically capable than him, and they decided he would stay there and she would try to get help,” Beal explained.
They then spent several days in rainy and cold weather, with temperatures as high as 27 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday evening.
“She did a really good job surviving this long,” Beal said.
Unfortunately, John did not survive the ordeal. It is unclear exactly when he died.
Pamela had been walking her dogs with her 82-year-old husband, John Helmstadter
The searches began Wednesday evening after the couple’s neighbor noticed that a package left on the couple’s porch was still there a day later
Officials say Pamela may also have died if not for an alert neighbor, who alerted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday about a package left on the couple’s porch.
The unidentified neighbor said he found it strange that the package was still there a day later, and even stranger that the couple’s other dog returned home without them.
Search efforts began that evening, with officials eventually finding Pamela around 2:30 p.m. Thursday in a wooded area more than a mile from the couple’s home.
She was severely hypothermic when she was found, with a body temperature of just 90.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
John’s body was found about 200 yards away.
Pamela was then taken to a local hospital where she is recovering.
She has since said she had given up hope of being found until she heard search planes flying overhead five times on Thursday.
Pamela was rushed to a local hospital where she is recovering from hypothermia
The couple’s neighbor, Heather Henry-Tenan, told the Portland Press Herald that John had been ill and she rarely saw him outside the home.
She noticed that the part of the forest the couple had been walking in was difficult to cross.
“I was surprised when I heard he was running with her,” Henry-Tenan said.